Daddy, I'm Scared
by QUEENSPELLER67
Summary: AU. A kid can get scared easily. Who's her hero? Her father. Late one-shot for Father's Day 2017. T to be safe.


**Father's Day. Elena's got a better relationship with her father than I do right now. I don't want to talk about it.**

 **A/N: I** _ **love**_ **writing Harlan and Frank so far. If you're following Elena in her Greenville quest, then you're probably wanting an update. You'll get one or two this week. Elena is five in this and loves stuffed animals like any other girl her age. She's not too fond of one, though. I only own the storyline and the OCs.  
**

 **Rating and reason: T for death mention, language, mild blood and to be safe.**

* * *

 **Daddy, I'm Scared**

(or: scary bunny. Harlan's perspective)

I had to take her. I know she was at her friend Stephanie's house from Letitia. I knocked at the door. "Oh, hi Harlan. The girls are out back kicking their feet in the pool," Grace said. "You're more than welcome to come in," she added and I nodded.

"Hi, Officer Sangster," Grace's son Russell said and I smiled at him. "Mama, they wanted to go in but I told em not to cause they don't have swimsuits on!"

I chuckled as Grace opened the door. "Stephanie, Elena has to go," she said and that caught my daughter's attention. I watched them get up and go dry their feet. Stephanie had aqua flip flops as opposed to Elena's pink ones. Once she had her flip flops on, I let her run into my arms.

"Bye, Stephy. See ya, Russell," Elena said and I picked her up. "Thanks for letting me see the pool, Mrs. Parker." *

Grace nodded and we made our way out. Once in the car, Elena still had to go into her booster seat. "I can do it," she insisted and I didn't argue. Once I heard the final click, I closed the door and we drove the streets of Chicago. "I wanna show Stephanie my new swimsuit. It's pretty!"

I smiled. "Yeah, I think so, too. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's purple, isn't it?"

I looked at her through the rear view. "Uh-huh," she replied as she realized where we were. Once we were out of the car, she held my hand. I opened the door and greeted Pat.

"You look pretty today, Elena," Pat said, knowing my daughter was a bit sleepy. Elena yawned before thanking her. Once we were sitting, Elena didn't leave my side. Even when Jean called her name.

* * *

Elena was taking in her surroundings. Some plants were around. "We'll do the X-rays first, kiddo," Jean said and Elena nodded. I just waited as I watched the door close for a little bit. I just stood there. I got my new ring today. My little boy. It took a little longer, but she got through it as we walked to the exam room. I heard Elena gasp before I felt her clutching onto me.

"No, daddy," she said, whimpering. "Not in there."

Jean looked at me and shrugged. I walked in as Elena let go. She had stuffed animals, but then I got a closer look. 'Well, damn. Teeth in stuffed animals. ...only at a dentist's office,' I thought.

"Daddy, scary," Elena said, pointing specifically to the bunny rabbit. **

I took a breath and looked at Jean. I opened my arms and let her cling to me. "How about a different room?" I asked. I patted her on the back.

Jean didn't question it further and led us out of room 5 into room 3. I set Elena down so she could walk around. "How is she recovering?"

"Physically, like a trooper," I said. "Emotionally is a different story." I walked to the chair and asked, "Do you need to sit in my lap?"

Elena made a face before shaking her head. "Will you stay by my side?" I smiled and kissed her forehead as Jean washed up. Within minutes, Elena was grasping my hand as Jean started to scale her teeth. I was a bit worried when I noticed her starting to bleed.

"I think you need to work on helping her floss, Harlan," Jean said and I nodded. The rest went smoothly, or as smoothly as it could. Once Jean finished with the fluoride treatment, she left to get Frank.

I watched Elena turn towards me and lift her sunglasses. "Daddy, my tooth feels funny," she said and pointed to a front tooth.

"Does it feel wiggly?" I asked and she nodded. She's already on her second loose tooth. But this is her first one since the accident. I just rubbed her knuckles and when Frank got close enough, I whispered in her ear that I had to tell him something.

Jean flicked on the light for the films. "Hey Harlan," Frank said. "What's up?"

What's up is that you're terrifying your niece. For fuck's sake, she's 5! Instead, I whispered, "Elena almost had a panic attack because of the rabbit in the other room. Have you lost your mind?"

Frank looked over my shoulder to see if he could see her. "Oh. Well, I had no say in that. What the boss says goes," he told me. I sighed and nodded.

"Alright. Just try to get rid of it if you ever get the chance," I told my brother and returned to Elena's side as he looked at her chart. He shot me one last look before looking at Elena's films again.

Elena blinked as she held the sunglasses in her hand. "What did you hafta tell uncle Frank?" she whispered and I told her that I'd tell her later. It seemed that Frank was finally ready, so I returned to my position as I watched her. "I got a new swimsuit for the summer," she told him before he started to count her teeth. I felt her wince as she grabbed my hand when Frank's probe touched the offending tooth. Adana told me what had happened some time back with a kid named Lance.

She began to whimper and I looked to see Frank still using the probe to examine that tooth and I gave him a look. "Maxillary and mandibular primary first and second molars had mid plaque," Jean began and I know Frank gave me a hot stare when he learned about her gums bleeding upon flossing. I returned it. He stood up to speak to Jean and Elena lifted her sunglasses before looking at me.

She didn't have to use words. "You're not in trouble, sweetie," I said to her gently. She just nodded and put the sunglasses back on. I knew we weren't going home after this. I watched as Frank put his fingers in her mouth.

"Bite down," he told her. He better not be thinking that far ahead. She's far too young for braces, but the way I noticed Frank's facial expression changing, I was beginning to get concerned. ***

Unfortunately, Elena was beginning to get squirmy. "One more time. Then I have to talk to your father and Ms. Jean can give you the fluoride varnish," he said. I watched her bite his hands and could only look to see him tell Jean to add something to her chart. He took his gloves off and told Elena that she had no cavities (thank God for that) before saying he needed to talk to me.

We went to another room. "Elena only had to use a pacifier in the first few days of her life. Otherwise, she'd suck her thumb," I told him.

"Harlan, I thought she stopped when she was three y" "You know as well as I do that she's been traumatized. The pediatrician said it's normal for her."

Frank shook his head. "I don't want her to need braces. Her teeth aren't crooked, I'm mostly concerned on the developing ones. Especially because this will be her second permanent tooth," he replied. There was a silence as I heard a cry and knew exactly where it came from. I held Elena's hand and she opened her eyes.

"I'm here, bebita," I said and kissed her forehead. Jean told me that she must've been trying to get the tooth out. "Can I see?" I asked and she opened her mouth. We encouraged her to wiggle it one more time with her tongue and see what would happen. It wasn't enough, so we told her to push with her thumb.

She started crying again, but it was over. Jean grabbed a piece of gauze and had Elena bite on it. I also noticed she had a little box out. She also took off the napkin and flicked off the light. I picked Elena up and Jean told me to sit with her until she calmed down. "You don't have to stay and see her like this," I said and Jean shook her head.

"Daddy, it's not gonna happen now," Elena said quietly. I licked my lips and looked at her. I parted her hair away from her eyes.

I was hoping she'd explain it, but she didn't. "What's not gonna happen?" I asked.

"The tooth fairy won't show up because I lost my tooth _here_ instead of anywhere else," she said, worry evident.

Jean didn't seem to have left. "That's not true. I'm sure the tooth fairy will show up," Jean replied, handing Elena a goody bag. I gave her a quizzical stare, but didn't say anything. I still didn't know what to do about the tooth fairy, but I thought I'd make my girl feel better. Once we checked out, Elena was still a little groggy. Once we got outside, I asked her if she was hungry. "I wan ice cream," she said drowsily.

Well, I think that could be arranged. "Dairy Queen sounds good to me, too," I said and her eyes widened slightly at that. With that, we were off.

"Daddy, are we having dinner at Dairy Queen?" she asked.

I looked at her through the rearview. "We are. Do you want to eat in the car?" I asked.

She shook her head. "I wanna go inside and see how much of the menu I can read," she said.

"Fair enough," I said.

* * *

 **Father/daughter fluff at its finest. Uh oh. Wait, what am I freak king out about?**

 **How about I do the rundown first?**

 **(*) Yes, Stephy is short for Stephanie in some cases.**

 **(**) 'Okay Queen. Why a bunny of** _ **all**_ **things?' is probably what you're asking yourselves. Well, you see, when I was at the nearby Blockbuster store [which is now a small YMCA], I saw the case for the film. I picked it up and saw the front cover art. Took me a bit to realize it was Steve Martin. On the back, however, was a rabbit. Lemme back up a bit more: at a majority of the dentist offices I've been in have a stuffed animal somewhere. One office that I went to that when I was in my late teens had a few stuffed animals with fake teeth sets [not necessarily dentures] in their mouths. It scared me, but the rabbit [if my memory is correct] has an eerie smile [or attempt at one] on its face. That was a good example of nightmare fuel when I was 8, a year after I had seen the movie. Hence Elena freaking out.**

 **(***) I have yet to see a five-year-old with braces [in real life. Oh dear …just don't get me started], but one of my students from this past school year is 11. I've only known him for two years. He got braces at some point, but I talked to him about the age gap between him and his sister. I figured that he got them [I never actually asked, but I kind of went around when his birthday fell. He got them shortly after that. Not one of the best birthday gifts one can get] when he was 8 or 9. I haven't seen him crack a grin in a while, so I haven't been able to tell. Part two: as a kid, that's how they checked to see if I needed braces.  
**

 **End A/N: Well, it was around 12:30 in the morning and I tried to upload this. My laptop needed to be ...tweaked. Edited or something. Unfortunately, my body succumbed to fatigue. Father's Day has ended. I really would've had this up yesterday, but things just didn't go as planned. Speaking of fathers, mine is out of the mental hospital, but we still have our relationship issues. I** _ **still**_ **gave him a Father's Day card, though. I …would rather not go into depth.  
**

 **Just….**

 **R and R, fave and follow (if you want), vote and ask. Auf Wiedersehen (goodbye in German) for now.**

 **~Queen**

 **Date and time of revision: 2:55:07pm**

 **Revisions made: more dialogue added**


End file.
